DLC Region Lock

[cipher_fox]

Hi there i remember on game axis there was a link which list most PS3 games that can use dlc from different regions.

example Games from region 3 can use DLC from region 1

anyone here can post the link.

Now will the same thing on PS3 work on PS4.

 

[cipher_fox]

bump.......

 

[MasterChief86]

Hi there i remember on game axis there was a link which list most PS3 games that can use dlc from different regions.

example Games from region 3 can use DLC from region 1

anyone here can post the link.

Now will the same thing on PS3 work on PS4.

There is more than one answer to what you want to know.

1. Some games are "region-free" meaning that they have no region lock
2. In case the title has a region lock, the dlc will have to be have to be from the same region as the disc/digital copy
3. For the dlc of any said region, you must have the PSN ID of same region. For instance, to dl and American DLC, your account must be from PSN US.

 

[PierceLee]

Don't have a list but to re-post a previous conversation...

Most of the time you cannot use a DLC from one region on the game of another region. That's becos even though they are the same game, they have different product codes.

Some times though Asia store will just take the US product as is, without changing the product code (on the physical disc, the picture printed on the disc may have different product code but the bits and bytes are the same). Then you can use DLC cross region.

If the DLC on another region is free, sure, no harm trying. If you have to pay money then better not.

One way is to check the product code. You can check on gamefaqs, go to that game's page, go to Home>Release Data, you will see each version (unfortunately they don't show Asia) and the product code. You can also see that on Play-Asia. They when you play a game, save file, copy the saved game to usb, check the folder name of the saved game, which has the product code.

It's still likely that if the product codes don't match but the DLC and game are still cross region compatible, just don't bet on it.


Also note that some games have in-game store that links to the PSN store for DLC purchase. In this case, for example, if you use R3 account to play R1 game, you will not be able to make the purchase from in-game. You might still be able to use the DLC if you already used R1 account to purchase it.

well, at least the number of games which i tried all worked. r3 disc/ r1 dlc. off the top of my head i can remember this few titles.

lord of the fallen
shadow of mordor
mad max
street fighter v
resident evil origins
batman arkham knight

always try with free dlc 1st. dont be dumb dumb and pay money just to try.

hell, in fact even vita game also work for me. r1 muramasa rebirth game, i buy dlc from asia store. works!!!

Exactly that. Or if someone managed to test with free DLC or is brave enough to pay, then can post a list like you to let people know. But unless you know for sure, best to assume not compatible.

From your list, I have Lords of the Fallen installed from my Asia PS+. I know for sure it's from Asia PS+ not US PS+ cos the game's info (on the game icon, press options, select Information) it shows the valid period end date as the expiry of my Asia PS+. I copied my save file to USB and checked on PC, the folder is PS4>SAVEDATA>xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>CUSA00369 (the xxxx part is a code for my psn account). And on gamefaq here, you can see that the US version has product code CUSA-00369. This shows that the SG version is just an exact copy of US version, down to the bits and bytes. So the DLCs are compatible. In most cases they won't match.

yes, that lotr and resident evil REmake is the exact same copy for R1 / R3. so it can totally read and retrieve my save file.

 

[cipher_fox]

Did a little reading here and there
the below gives an example of how DLC from different regions work with one another.

Australian Blurays and DVDs are coded for Region B/2+4 which also covers the EU so DLC from the EU store will work on Aussie discs . Here are a couple of maps that show which region every country is for DVDs and Blurays :

http://www.playstationtrophies.org/forum/ps4-games-discussion/280270-ps4-region-code-all.html

Technically speaking R1 DLC works with R3 games and vice versa
same goes for Australian games work with EU DLC and vice versa

 

[cipher_fox]

The big mistake i suspect is that many ppl think EU games should work with US DLC because of the common language "english" thats why most post you see online is that "why my R2 game cannot use R1 dlc" so on and so forth.

one thing for sure because of the blue ray region code thats why dlc can be cross region, the good part is we are team with the US.

 

[PierceLee]

The region codes you showed, with map, refer to blu-ray and DVD movie discs, not game discs.

Game/DLC region has a whole lot of complexity, varies individually by game. General rule is: DLC must match game region. Of cos there are lots of exceptions. You will need to compare the product ID (potentially each region has a different ID for the same game). It will take a very long post to explain how to check (looking at game saves, at psn store URL, at gamefaqs, etc), so I'll skip for now. Just remember to always match the region, unless you know for sure (eg. someone already tried or you find that the IDs match).

As for Europe and Australia being compatible, that's simple, cos they are the same region. Europe, Australia, Middle East, India are all grouped under Sony Europe.

 

[PierceLee]

1) Nowadays almost all Asia versions AAA games or big publisher games are multilingual (eg. EN+CH, EN+CH+KR, EN+JP, EN+KR). These Asia multilingual versions naturally will not be DLC compatible with US/EU English-only versions. This makes like 90% of the Asia R3 games incompatible with other region DLCs. There are many games not released on Asia R3, so no DLC to talk about there.

2) Depending on publisher, English-only version in Asia may be compatible with US, or with EU. For example, typically Square Enix, EA, Koei Tecmo, Sega, 2K are Asia-US compatible, whereas Bandai Namco, Ubisoft are Asia-EU compatible (again, referring to English-only, not multilingual games). However this is just general observation, there are many exceptions (some are shown below).

3) Depending on game, even if product ID matches, the DLC may be locked. (An example shown below is The Crew, which ties any DLC to the account that purchased it; other accounts, even from the same region, cannot access it.)

Examples:

 

[Bardiche]

Hi all,

example i have a new R2 game in my R3 account (singapore) and DLC is also R3, and can R3 DLC work in R2 game??

 

[PierceLee]

Hi all,

example i have a new R2 game in my R3 account (singapore) and DLC is also R3, and can R3 DLC work in R2 game??

Not sure what you mean by "R2 game in R3 account", you mean you have the physical disc (R2) and played using R3 account?

Anyway, look at the table in my post above yours. Basically some yes (R2 and R3 are compatible) and some/many/most no. Really depends on which particular game you are talking about.

Generally, one way to tell (may not be 100% correct) is by comparing the product ID. You can find the product ID by:

- If you have already played the game, copy your saved game from the ps4 to a usb drive, then plug it into a pc. On the usb drive, look under PS4 > SAVEDATA > [16 alphanumeric char, probably representing your psn account] > [product ID]

- Look for it printed on the disc cover (spine area typically) or on the physical disc. (This may not always be accurate.)

- Use a web browser (eg. on a PC), look for the game/DLC on the online PSN store for the same region (if R1 goto US store, if R2 go UK store, if R3 go SG store; log out of your psn account from the online psn store first, otherwise you can't go to a different region). Make sure you find the same game/DLC in the same region and with the same language. The product ID is part of the URL address, usually something like "CUSAxxxxx".

 

[Bardiche]

Not sure what you mean by "R2 game in R3 account", you mean you have the physical disc (R2) and played using R3 account?

Yes. PEGI physical disc (as ppl say R2), DLC and SG account is from Asia (as ppl say R3)

PEGI R2 game is hyperdimension (BLES01178-L000) amd the R3 DLC downloaded free from my SG account but did not appear in the game.. So i assume it does not work already then??

Mine is PS3 games so technically the same thing applies to your table above, right??

 

[PierceLee]

Yes. PEGI physical disc (as ppl say R2), DLC and SG account is from Asia (as ppl say R3)

PEGI R2 game is hyperdimension (BLES01178-L000) amd the R3 DLC downloaded free from my SG account but did not appear in the game.. So i assume it does not work already then??

Mine is PS3 games so technically the same thing applies to your table above, right??

Yes technically the same thing. For PS3, when you copy the save file to USB, it will be in the PS3 > SAVEDATA > [productID] folder.

For PS3 games, each region has its own ID - typically R1 is BLUSxxxxx, R2 is BLESxxxxx, R3 is BLASxxxxx or BCASxxxxx (there are many more). It's not like PS4 where they typically have the same CUSA prefix. It is likely that a PS3 game may be cross-region compatible even if the prefix doesn't match.

For the case of Hyperdimension Neptunia (ps3), they seem to be incompatible. But if you are getting the free DLCs (there's over a dozen), just make a UK account and get from there, then continue to play using your R3 account.
https://store.playstation.com/#!/en...S01178_00-DISCONLYPARENT00:ADD-ONS||price~asc

 

[Bardiche]

For the case of Hyperdimension Neptunia (ps3), they seem to be incompatible. But if you are getting the free DLCs (there's over a dozen), just make a UK account and get from there, then continue to play using your R3 account.
https://store.playstation.com/#!/en...S01178_00-DISCONLYPARENT00:ADD-ONS||price~asc

Ok done.. it seems that for R2 neptunia is not compatible with R3 account.. UK DLC works on the new game mode though..

i got the DLCs on the UK account but my save data from R3 cannot be used because the data have to be first be played to get the DLCs and save the game and then delete the old data from R3 to copy the new data from R2 to R3..

the R3 save data says in R2 game is "Cannot load this save data. It belongs to another user." so it is confirmed not compatible..

my other R1 save data to R3 and vice versa works though..

 

[ratinacage]

a wealth of good information here.

just hoping someone will have better knowledge than me. A little side track, not DLC but still download content related.

What about China/Hong Kong?

i can confirm that there are 2 different PSN stores for these 2 regions, even tho they are the same country.
reason im asking is that i was tempted to buy some game download codes from china, some of them are relatively cheaper, but the seller will always state that u can only use a HK/China account, no vice versa. Im wondering if the HK codes can be used for our Sg account?

 

[PierceLee]

a wealth of good information here.

just hoping someone will have better knowledge than me. A little side track, not DLC but still download content related.

What about China/Hong Kong?

i can confirm that there are 2 different PSN stores for these 2 regions, even tho they are the same country.
reason im asking is that i was tempted to buy some game download codes from china, some of them are relatively cheaper, but the seller will always state that u can only use a HK/China account, no vice versa. Im wondering if the HK codes can be used for our Sg account?

Within Asia, each country has separate PSN store with variation in contents. Like HK and TW will have lots of Traditional Chinese games and also Japanese language games. For whatever stupid reason, many such Traditional Chinese and Japanese games are not available on South East Asia (SG, MY etc) psn stores. (Incredibly, the English versions of those same games are on SEA stores but not HK/TW, go figure.) China store is very very empty, and their games are Simplified Chinese. You practically don't see Simplified Chinese games anywhere else, even SG (though there are a few games with multiple languages that includes SimCh).

I am not sure about download codes though, cos I have never gotten any code to try. If the download code is wallet top-up card, then it definitely will not work. These pre-paid card are for specific currency (Chinese Yuan, Hong Kong Dollar, SGD, etc) and PSN store does not do currency exchange conversion. So if you get China top-up card, you can only use it on China psn store, and with that wallet credit you can only buy things from China psn store (which doesn't have much stuff). If the download code is for certain game/DLC, then obviously it won't work if the item is not available in the country you want to redeem. If the code is for an item common to multiple countries, that's the part I am not sure as I have not tested. There is a possibility that it may work, just like a Canada code can work in US (they are both the US region).

Regardless, you can just create an account in the same country as the code, then download and use another country's account to play it. This is not 100% though (eg. wallet top-up, games not available in another country, DLC and game incompatible across countries, certain game/DLC are locked to account that purchased it, ...).

I doubt a China code can be redeemed by a HK account (or any other Asia country account) due to it being a very different entity entirely. You can still create China account to redeem China code, but the question is whether the item you redeemed is useful to your other accounts. If the code is for a particular game which you don't mind playing in Simplified Chinese, then perhaps ok. If it's for PS+ subscription, then remember that they have very little content on China store and give very few free games, but the PS+ subscription benefit of getting online access should be sharable with other accounts.

I have left out Korea (South Korea) in this, as you cannot create a Korea account. Korea government has some sort of online identity thing, whereby each person has a single account (using real personal info) to access many online services. So you cannot create Korea psn account unless you are a Korean or staying there and have the online identity credential.